Wyatt, sinking deeper and
deeper into savagery and cruelty, was just the one to lead the Iroquois
in such a pursuit. He was a fit match for Walter Butler, the infamous
son of the Indian leader, who was soon to prove himself worse than the
worst of the savages, as Thayendanegea himself has written.

Henry drew a bead once on Braxton Wyatt-he had no scruples now about
shooting him-but just as he was about to pull the trigger Wyatt darted
behind a bush, and a Seneca instead received the bullet. He also saw
the renegade, Blackstaffe, but he was not able to secure a shot at him,
either. Nevertheless, the Iroquois attack was beaten back. It was a
foregone conclusion that the result would be so, unless the force was
in great numbers. It is likely, also, that the Iroquois at first had
thought only a single man was with the fugitives, not knowing that the
five had joined them later.

Two of the Iroquois were slain at the very edge of the solid ground, but
their bodies fell back in the slime, and the others, retreating fast for
their lives, could not carry them off. Paul, with a kind of fascinated
horror, watched the dead painted bodies sink deeper. Then one was
entirely gone. The hand of the other alone was left, and then it, too,
was gone. But the five had held the island, and Carpenter was leading
the fugitives on toward Fort Penn. They had not only held it, but they
believed that they could continue to hold it against anything, and their
hearts became exultant. Something, too, to balance against the long
score, lay out there in the swamp, and all the five, bitter over
Wyoming, were sorry that Braxton Wyatt was not among them.

The stillness came again. The sun did not break through the heavy gray
sky, and the somber shadows brooded over "The Shades of Death." They
heard again the splash of water animals, and a swimming snake passed on
the murky surface. Then they heard the wolf's long cry, and the long cry
of wolf replying.

"More Iroquois coming," said Shif'less Sol. "Well, we gave them a pretty
warm how d'ye do, an' with our rifles and double-barreled pistols I'm
thinkin' that we kin do it ag'in."

"We can, except in one case," said Henry, "if the new party brings their
numbers up to fifty or sixty, and they wait for night, they can surround
us in the darkness. Perhaps it would be better for us to slip away when
twilight comes. Carpenter and the train have a long lead now."

"Yes," said Shif'less Sol, "Now, what in t